MOSCOW: For a moment in Moscow on Tuesday night, it felt England were eternally cursed when it comes to penalty shootouts. David Ospina had just saved a penalty from Jordan Henderson to put Colombia 3-2 up after three spot-kicks each. It was the fourth time that England were involved in a shootout in a World Cup. On the last three occasions; in 1990, 1998 and 2006, they’d gone out. Add their exits from Euros in 1996, 2004 and 2012, Henderson’s miss suggested the ghosts of the past had returned to haunt them again.

But then, there was a stroke of luck; that stroke of luck that turned it around. Mateus Uribe, whose came on as a late substitute in regulation time for Colombia and was a catalyst in their recovery as Yerry Mina’s injury-time header cancelled out Harry Kane’s second-half penalty, beat England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford with his effort from 12 yards but he couldn’t beat the crossbar. As the ball hit the turf after shattering the frame of the goal, there was a feeling here at the Spartak Stadium that this could be the night England’s jinx finally ended.

Crucially, Kieran Trippier netted from the next penalty and the pressure was now on Colombia to score from their fifth and penalty and when Pickford saved Carlos Bacca’s effort, the stage was set for Erik Dier to put England out of their age-old shootout misery. Dier’s emphatic finish did exactly that, putting England into the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2006.

“It was a nervous one,” Dier, who came on for Dele Alli late on, told ITV afterwards. “I’ve never really been in a situation like that before but I felt I had to score after missing the header [in extra-time] at the end so I’m just thankful I scored.”

It was widely reported afterwards that Dier wasn’t scheduled to take the penalty but only stepped in after Jamie Vardy injured his groin. Dier paid tribute to Pickford for keeping England in the shootout.

“Jordan is a fantastic goalkeeper and deserves everything,” he added. “His attitude has been brilliant in training and he took that into the game. To get knocked down like we did [with Mina’s goal], it’s difficult to come back from. But we knew what we had to do and we stayed calm. We never panicked. We were ready for that.”

Pickford, meanwhile, credited a lot of research behind England prevailing in the shootout.

“I did all my research on them, for starters, so we had a fair idea,” he told ITV.

It was meticulous preparation indeed from Pickford but great credit goes to England coach Gareth Southgate for preparing his team right down to the finest detail. In the run-in to the last-16 match, England had practiced penalties — and lots of them. To replicate match-like conditions, the players had stood at the halfway line and made the long walk to the spot. Pickford and the goalkeeping coaches spent hours studying the Colombians and the directions they went in. “Radamel Falcao was the only one who didn’t really go his way,” said Pickford.

The England goalkeeper had come under criticism for not being tall enough and after the victory he delivered a stirring riposte.

“I’ve got power and agility to help me get around the goal, I don’t care if I’m not the biggest keeper because it’s about being there in the moment and making the save and I was. It’s all about the set position and I got a hand to it,” said the 6ft 1in shot stopper. “Our mindset and mentality, we never stopped. We knew we had this game, even if it had to go to penalties, we knew we were capable of winning.”

On the decisive save to stop Bacca, the 24-year-old told BBC Radio: “I was in a massive whirlwind but I saved it with my left hand. I’ve been critcised for going with my top hand, but as long as you save it, that’s all that counts. I might be young but I’ve got good mental strength and experience and I used that today.”

England coach Southgate said the penalty shootout triumph will ‘give belief for generations to follow’.

“We have fantastic supporters who have had to stand with us through decades of disappointment and this was a really special moment for our country,” he said at the post-match press conference. “Tonight will give belief for generations to follow and not be hindered by history or expectations. The players have really executed everything [in the shootout] that we’ve talked about exceptionally well and we showed incredible resilience to come back from huge disappointment at the final whistle and keep our calm. It’s a special moment for us.”

Standing between England and a place in the semi-finals for the first time since 1966 — when they went all the way to win the World Cup — are Sweden. Captain Kane, who leads the scoring charts with six goals at the tournament, echoed Southgate’s words and said the victory will reinstate further belief in the team.

“It’s a big night for England,” he said at the press conference afterwards. “It will give us huge belief. There’s still a long way to go. Obviously we spoke a lot about being an inexperienced, young team, but we grew a lot out there tonight. Even when we were behind in the penalty shootout we thought ‘please, save one Pickers [Pickford]!’ And he did. It was nice to get it off our back and we can move forward now.”

England’s last win on a penalty shootout before Tuesday was back in the quarter-finals of Euro 1996. However, in the very next match, in another shootout in the semi-final against Germany, they lost. Southgate said that his group of players had ‘created their own history’. What he wouldn’t want is history to repeat itself though. Back then, in the semi-final against Germany, it was Southgate who missed the crucial penalty. Fittingly, it was a side coached by him that, 22 years later, brought shootout salvation for England.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2018